What a Year!
Looking Back at the The 20 in 2022 — the Wins, the Lessons, and the GROWTH
What a year it has been! 2022 saw The 20 enter the M&A arena for the first time; implement large-scale operational changes; build out a new HR department; come together with our MSP community for a 3-day conference for the ages — in short, we’ve been busy!
We’re excited for 2023 and for the challenges and opportunities it will bring, but we want to look back at the past year before we tackle our to-do list for the new year. After all, that’s what the holidays are all about — slowing down, taking a breath, and reflecting on the journey.
So join us as we take a stroll down memory lane. Let’s go over the wins, the lessons, and the growth our organization has seen this year, before we start the next chapter in our story.
The 20 by the Numbers
We’ve been busy in 2022, doing our best to continually push the frontiers of managed services so we can bring our clients game-changing IT support that drives business forward. Just how busy though? Let’s see, in 2022 we …
- Closed 53,492 tickets
- Hired 100+ new employees
- Expanded our footprint in 12 states and entered 14 new markets
- Received 5 awards
- Published 37 blogs
- Held 50+ webinars
- Produced 40 videos
- Created hundreds of new pieces of marketing collateral for MSPs
- Participated in 32 events (virtual & live)
- Hosted 300+ VISION attendees
- Forged 5 new vendor partnerships (NetSuite, Qlik, Zomentum, MSP360, Marketopia)
- Featured in over 26 articles & publications (including Canvas Rebel, MSP Today, CRN, ChannelPro Network, Channel Futures)
- Acquired 13 companies
Then there are the things that can’t be easily measured — the laughs we’ve shared; the moments of excitement when our MSP members got a big win; the ideas and a-ha moments — the list goes on and on.
But behind the above numbers is one number, the importance of which cannot be overstated. That number is ONE.
The 20 started as a company devoted to helping MSP owners conquer ‘the business side’ of IT. The experiment of bringing together independent MSPs and uniting them with a single tool stack and service delivery model has been a roaring success, and although there’s no single key to that success, there’s a case to be made for one of our core values: We Win Together.
The 20 MSP Group might consist of many independent MSPs, but we are, in the truest sense of the word, a community. We are one team with one goal: providing our end clients with managed IT services that are second to none.
M&Aking it Happen
The 20 entered the M&A arena in 2022, acquiring thirteen top-notch managed service providers and making significant strides toward building the first premium MSP with coast-to-coast reach. The companies we acquired (listed below) all came from our co-op group (The 20 MSP Group), and are now part of a single MSP (The 20 MSP). Welcome to the team …
- Stratocent Technologies (WA, CEO – Jim Bachaud)
- Cirrus Technologies (OH, CEO – Chris Traxler)
- INGRAIN IT (WI, CEO – Gary Blawat)
- Monroy IT Services (TX, CEO – George Monroy)
- Network Management Solutions (CA, CEO – Darren Fippin)
- Peterson Technology Group (WI, CEO – Kevin Peterson)
- Your IT Group (FL, CEO – Michael Vu)
- WOLFGUARD IT (MT, CEO – Chris Kimbell)
- BOLDER Designs (DE, CEO – John Rutkowski)
- Byte-Werx (TX, CEO – Michael Wayland)
- JS Computek (MO, CEO – Caleb Brown)
- Code Red Networks (MI, CEO – Dennis Ward)
- CSP Technologies (AZ & NC, CEO – Chris Plouffe)
M&A activity is currently red-hot in the managed services space, but our approach to consolidation is fairly unique in that the companies we’ve acquired — and will acquire — all belong to The 20 group. As members of the group, these MSPs plugged into our way of doing things — the tools, the processes, and perhaps most importantly, the people-first culture that anchors our entire operation. This means that much of the integrative work that traditional mergers require was already done when we closed the deals. As we’ve learned, because we’re already lined up, it’s easy to roll up!
We’re incredibly excited to welcome our new team members. The thirteen MSPs joining The 20 team are operationally mature companies that understand the importance of building real relationships with clients. It’s been a pleasure to watch them leverage The 20’s business model to grow into industry leaders, and an honor to bring them on board.
The future’s looking bright, and we will continue to acquire MSPs through 2023 and beyond. Next year, we expect to add two to four MSPs a month.
VISION ’22 – Our Best One Yet!
With three keynote speakers, a plethora of panel discussions, breakouts galore, an impromptu fundraiser for a good cause, and of course, an awesome party to go out with a bang, VISION ’22 exceeded even our ambitious expectations.
The 3-day conference for growth-minded MSPs took place at the beautiful Omni Frisco Hotel in the heart of The Star, a 91-acre entertainment district built around the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters and the Ford Center. The venue and setting were so perfect, we’ve decided to go back for VISION ’23 (more info here).
We cannot express how grateful we are to the wonderful people — MSP owners, sponsors, speakers, channel pros, hotel staff — who make VISION what it is: AWESOME! A Texas-sized THANK YOU to each and every one of you.
The MSP community truly is the heart of the channel, and our unmatched camaraderie was on full display at this year’s event. If you missed out — or simply want to relive the good times — check out our VISION recap video.
Sensational Operations
We implemented some sweeping changes this year on the operational side. The impetus for much of this change was the hiring of Ken Pecot in 2021. Ken is an operational mastermind who has, since joining The 20 as our new COO, taken our efficiency and service delivery to a whole new level.
Whether it’s restructuring our support desk or sharpening our analytics and metrics, Ken has impacted The 20 in numerous and profound ways. Tim Conkle, our CEO, called the hire one of the best business decisions he’s ever made, adding: “If you’ve ever wondered how to multiply magic, it’s all about putting the right people in the right seats.”
Expect us to continue elevating our operations and evolving our service delivery as we grow and deepen our national footprint. The managed services game is all about finding new ways to help your clients succeed, and here at The 20 MSP, we’re feeling excited to keep doing exactly that.
Final Thought
The title of this blog post says it all — what a year! 2022 zoomed by, and it’s hard to believe how much has happened in just twelve months. And while we’re not sure what the future will bring, we do know this much: we have an incredible community of MSPs who work together and win together. Knowing this is enough to give us the confidence that whatever comes our way, we’ll be able to handle it.
Here’s to growing, evolving, and changing what’s possible in the MSP space!